Thread by @econliberties

1/ Happy #MonopolyMonday & #NationalMilkDay! 🥛

This week, we’ll be spotlighting America’s largest dairy monopoly— @dfamilk.

2/ After multiple acquisitions, @dfamilk now controls ~30% of all raw milk in the U.S.

Most recently, they announced in February 2020 that they would be acquiring @deanfoods, the largest producer of milk in the U.S., for $425 million.
cnbc.com/2020/02/17/dai…

3/ @deanfoods owned nearly 50 brands…and more than 40 of them were dairy products. 😳

Now, many of these brands and subsidiaries are owned by @dfamilk.

4/ Four months prior to being acquired by @dfamilk, @deanfoods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

reuters.com/article/us-dea…

5/ But before the merger was finalized, the DOJ thought they smelled a potential milk monopoly forming…
wsj.com/articles/regul…

6/ And, of course, their instincts were correct.

Just three months after their announcement to buy @deanfoods, @dfamilk was hit with an antitrust suit.
fooddive.com/news/dfa-hit-w…

7/ The plaintiffs, Food Lion and Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Co-Op Association, called @dfamilk "an aspiring monopolist” and feared that @dfamilk would force them to either join @dfamilk or cease to exist…

8/ Of course they had a reason to be worried.

Agricultural co-ops like @dfamilk are notorious for squeezing the dairy farmers that they rely on.
washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/janua…

9/ Which is probably why they’ve found themselves at the center of multiple class action lawsuits…

apnews.com/article/583ceb…

10/ As @clairekelloway explains, the consolidation of American agriculture “is the product of policies that permit and reward monopoly power, regardless of the risks to producers, consumers, and even, ironically, to monopolists themselves.”
washingtonmonthly.com/2019/11/21/the…

11/11 It’s time for milk monopolist @dfamilk to mooove aside and let more dairy processors & agricultural co-ops compete in the market. 🐮